Signing day: Monarch's Eisler, Lofstedt taking talents to D-I level

Jordan Eisler is an avid skier, and so a move from Colorado to Vermont for her collegiate career seemed like a natural transition.

Except for one little problem. Once Eisler signed her name on the dotted line on Wednesday, Nov. 14, skiing officially was put on the shelf for the next four years. Not that Eisler was complaining.

The Monarch girls basketball standout made her college choice official on Wednesday, signing a National Letter of Intent to continue her basketball career at the University of Vermont. Monarch volleyball star Addy Lofstedt also selected a Colorado-like climate for college, signing her NLI to join the volleyball program at Northern Arizona.

"What really attracted me about Vermont was the coaches," Eisler said. "It's such a family type of environment and I really loved being there. I just loved being there. I loved being on the campus. It's very similar to Boulder. And I loved hanging out with my new teammates."

Eisler transferred to Monarch from Legacy after her sophomore season and became somewhat obscured last year playing in the shadows of the three senior leaders -- Alexus Johnson, Rebecca Richmond, and Ashton Davis -- of the Coyotes' run to the Class 5A state title game, where they lost to Eisler's former teammates at Legacy.

Eisler averaged 6.6 points last season for the Coyotes while ranking second on the team in 3-pointers.

"The coaching staff (at Vermont) is great and they want to compete," Eisler said. "I loved everything about it."

Lofstedt led Monarch's volleyball team in several categories this fall, including kills (266) and aces (23) while ranking second on the team in digs with 120. Playing in the Big Sky Conference was attractive to Lofstedt because of Northern Arizona's regular trips to Greeley to face its league foes from the University of Northern Colorado.

"My junior year I was sending out stuff to any school that I was interested in, and then I just kind of narrowed it down," Lofstedt said. "The coach from NAU came out and watched one of our practices and they offered me a scholarship. When I went there I really liked it and I knew that it was the right place."

Pumas Bolyard signs with Colorado Mesa

Peak to Peak softball players Jo Bolyard, who led the Pumas at the plate with a .667 batting average and on the pitching mound with 177 strikeouts in 951/3 innings, signed to play at Division-II Colorado Mesa.